With Floor is Lava, and A Therapy Session with Myself on stage and Ps in a  Pod hitting the “new TV” and countless films on the topic, “The Millennial” is becoming the new prevailing demographic in arts & entertainment

We spoke with one Millennial and one Gen Xer about the new audience and artist adding to the theatrical mosaic.

Travis Martin from “A Therapy Session with Myself” on himself:

I classify myself an actor, a writer, a director, and editor with a self-published book, Lion’s Heaven. Along with acting credits in plays, shorts, and an indie film, I have written, directed, and edited two shorts, The Resident and Afterthought. Since I have a speech and language difficulty, I like exploring ideas of what can be shown and not spoken, what we don’t or can’t say to one another, and the things that cannot be described in words. 

However, I don’t like to classify myself as an artist, and here’s why: to me, the terms artist and art are words that we made in order to perceive a concept that is too broad for our understanding. The word art is like the words life, death, love, and nothing, things that encapsulated so much intricate and abstract thought that we can’t fully comprehend its true meaning. So that is why I am iffy when it comes to being called an artist, because what does that mean to do art. 

We Millennials don’t just look into a phone to escape, but to find something. To me, we’re a generation of journeymen and journeywomen searching through the internet instead of finding it in the earth or space beyond. They are explorers trying to uncover what has not been seen or filmed on this planet. It’s not just us photographing ourselves to show an idealized life, but to photograph life in general. That’s what I believe and hope for as a Millennial.

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We then chatted with Jake Lipman, founder of Tongue in Cheek Theater. She understands their energy and ambition because – even though she may have been around a tiny bit longer – she understands the need for forward motion. 

So… I was born in the Carter Administration, so I’m Gen X, but! I feel so fortunate to work with a number of Millennial artists. I’m a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades – although I started as an actor, and still act a great deal. Currently, I’m producing and directing a show, Recent Tragic Events which features Millennial actors William Douglas Turner and Loralee Tyson, assistant director Olivia Ragan, and stage manager Jessica Fornear.

Millennials, to me, equal momentum. Probably because they’ve grown up amidst many major world events in their lives (school shootings, 9/11, Facebook, the Great Recession, Obama being elected, Russia interfering with our democracy, #MeToo), and they don’t take anything for granted. They’re part of a forward motion, in art, in advocacy, politics and technology and I really admire and am grateful for what they bring to the world stage.

I understand that. After I got my MFA in acting from the Actors Studio Drama School, I realized I was going to have a lot more satisfaction and frankly work if I generated my own content, so I started producing and directing. To date, I’ve produced 41 plays, directed a dozen, written several, and appeared onstage in many for my production company, Tongue in Cheek Theater Productions. I would love it if people came out to see Recent Tragic Events, May 8-18 @ The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios, 244 West 54^th Street, 12^th Floor. www.tictheater.com